I'm cleaning up an old PC from work for another co-workers personal use. I've been going down through the "Add or Remove Programs" list and removing all unneeded software (and software licensed to the company) and I came across this funny entry:
Win XP security updates will end in 2014.
Linux supports older hardware no problem. There are newbie friendly distros like mint and even ones designed to look like windows to ease people in with the familiar look.
Could be a hoax since that person has development tools installed. It only takes a minute or so to crank out a Windows Installer that puts whatever you want in that field.